B MacMahon (t/a Irish Cottage Trading Co) v HMRC

In B MacMahon (t/a Irish Cottage Trading Co) v HMRC (Upper Tribunal – 2 April) a Northern Ireland trader (M) claimed that he had made 47 zero-rated supplies of goods to a Spanish company. HMRC issued assessments on the basis that the goods had never left the UK and thus did not qualify for zero-rating. M appealed contending that he had complied with the requirements of Notice No 703. The First-tier Tribunal reviewed the evidence in detail and found on the balance of probabilities that the goods in question had ‘never reached Spain’ and had been ‘diverted after they left the appellant’s premises’. The Tribunal allowed M’s appeal with regard to the first four of the 47 transactions finding that with regard to these transactions he had taken ‘every precaution reasonably required’ but dismissed the appeal with regard to the remaining 43 transactions finding...